The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer Review

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The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer ReviewI've studied NYC, NJ & Philly OC for over 20 years now. I've read 100's of books on this subject including the one by Anthony Bruno about Kuklinski about 10 years ago. Some by cops, some by feds, some by rats, some by reporters. Nowhere have I ever read, even hinted at, the more outragous claims made by Richard (Iceman) Kuklinski. A couple of the more unbelievable.
Paul (Big Paul) Castellano Shooting. HE WAS NOT THERE. This was planned and executed by "The Fist" a faction of Gambino's dissatisfied for a number of reasons with his leadership. The Fist was made up of John Gotti, Angelo Ruggerio, Frankie DeCicco, Robert (DeBee) Debenardo, and Sammy Bull Gravano. Others in the family (Gene Gotti, Joe Gallo, et al) knew of the plot, but it emulated and was executed primarily by the Bergin crew headed by Gotti. Below are the shooters. NONE was paid cash to participate. The payment was power within the Gambino's hierarchy after Big Paul was dead. There is NO WAY Gravano would have asked or Gotti would have approved of an unknown shooter being brought into the plot as a freelance mercenary.
John CarnegliaPrimary shooter, target Castellano, in front of Sparks,
Vincent Artuso Primary shooter, target Castellano, in front of Sparks,
Eddie LinoPrimary shooter, target Billotti, in front of Sparks,
Salvatore (Fat Sally) Scala,Primary shooter, target Billotti, in front of Sparks,
Dominick (Skinny Dom) Pizzonia,Back-up shooter across E. 46th St. from Sparks,
Anthony (Tony Roach) Rampino,Back-up shooter across E. 46th St. from Sparks,
Angelo (Quack Quack) Ruggerio,Back-up shooter across E. 46th St. from Sparks,
Joe (The German)Watts,Back-up shooter across E. 46th St. from Sparks,
John GottiIn Car at 3rd Ave & E. 46th St. opposite Sparks,
Salvatore (Sammy Bull) GravanoIn Car at 3rd Ave & E. 46th St. opposite Sparks,
FrankDeCiccoInside Sparks
The association with and killing of Roy DeMeo. It is possible that Kuklinski knew DeMeo. Although no cooperating witnesses ever mentioned him. It is even possible that DeMeo kept "The Pollock" around as a secert weapon - that I'd believe. But there is NO WAY, NONE, ZERO that DeMeo would have introduced him to his supervisor in the Gambino family, Anthony Gaggi. And Gaggi wouldn't introduce himself. BTW Gaggi's dog was not a German shepard but a pure breed male boxer. Lastly, Roy was killed by fellow crew associates Joseph Testa and Anthony Senter as well as Nino after orders came from Paul to "take care of him Nino". Also, Frankie DeCicco was instructed to assist Nino if he needed shooters or back-up. Again, no one was paid. Senter and Testa were promoted to made status. Dracula was killed around the same time.
The killing of Jimmy Hoffa. C'mon not even the author could possibly believe this. It has been verified beyond dispute that Tony Pro was in NJ at the time of the killing. I'm not going to waste time reputing this BS any more.
Carmine (Lilo, Cigar) Galante Shooting. There was a lone dinner in Joe & Mary's that hot July afternoon according to Giuseppe Turano's son. However, he hit the deck when Louis Giongetti, Dominick Trinchera and Sonny Black walked in armed to teeth. Turncoat Galante bodyguard Cesare Bonventre pulled his pistol and shot loyal Galante bodyguard Leonard Coppola six times before he hit the floor. Clueless and 3rd bodyguard Baldassare (Baldo) Amato pulled his gun and dove behind a table. Sonny shotgunned Galante while Big Trin chased down Turano's son and shot him in back while he searched for a gun stored in the employee's bathroom. Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato waited in the street by the car with a M1 carbine. Louis Giongetti walked over to Coppola and shot the top of his skull of for good measure. Cesare quickly informed his cousin Baldo not to shoot and leave with him, which he did. This killing was ordered by boss Phillip Rastelli in conjuction with the Gambino's over control of the heroin market and revenge for Gambino killings. Ironically, it was the Zips headed by Salvatore Catalano & Joe Ganci who eventually took over Galante's babina business. Massino took control of the family. This account has been verified by several different sources.
Cave with Rats. Logistics would be unlikely or impossible. Try to find a remote cave 75 miles from home at night whilst guarding a live hostage. Try setting up automatic camera's w/ lights to capture the rats eating the victim. I will admit it's a sick mind to envision such things, but I doubt he actually did it. Camera, light and motion technology plus logistics of transport makes it an unlikely tale to scare women and small children.
Flare to balls.I read almost same account about Legs Diamond and a farmer in a book called Mob Stories about seven years ago. A little less graphic but, punch line was same. Probably Rich read this too. Obviously author didn't read it or don't know how to vet a source.
All in all a good book and worth the money for true crime buffs. I'm glad I bought it, but the killings Kuklinski actually did would have been enough. The other mob stuff is his own fantasy.
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The Man Who Got Away: The Bugs Moran Story--A Biography Review

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The Man Who Got Away: The Bugs Moran Story--A Biography ReviewFinally, the untold story of George "Bugs" Moran. Previously largely a footnote to the life of Al Capone and recalled mainly as the guy who lost his gang in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Moran was a legend in his own time yet has always remained a man of mystery whose birth and background were early obscured by rumor and misinformation. Thanks to Rose Keefe, a wonderful writer and researcher and one of the rising stars of historical crime, we now have the complete and fascinating account of his life, from his Minnesota childhood to his equally intriguing post-Prohibition career as an independent criminal. An excellent companion to Rose's previous biography of Dean O'Banion (Guns and Roses, also highly recommended) and a marvelous uncovering of one of America's underworld legends that will leave you dying for more. Rose has captured The Man Who Got Away--something even Capone couldn't do!The Man Who Got Away: The Bugs Moran Story--A Biography Overview

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Open: An Autobiography Review

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Open: An Autobiography ReviewSo you're thinking this might be one of those recently retired famous people books aren't you? One where a celebrity, or a Politician, or a sports star cranks out hundreds of pages of self-serving, history-correcting drivel in order to cash the big advance check. A book you can't even bring yourself to finish; better than a tranquilizer at bedtime.
Well, this is certainly not that book. "Open" is a journey that I predict will stay with you for a very long time. It's a completely unexpected trip to places you've never been. I'm not one of those quasi-professional reviewers you see on Amazon. But this book practically made me write about it.
Interestingly, Open starts not at the beginning and not quite at the end. Second round, US Open, 2006.
Not the final match of Andre's career--but the one right before that.
Against a competitor you'd never heard of before or since.
The battle was against the guy across the net, and also Andre's hatred of tennis, his failing body, the demons that he harnessed to get through the unending heroic contest that seemed destined to continue until both just fell into a heap on the court. And it is so well told.
After 20 pages, I knew that this was unlike any other biography I had ever read. Couldn't put it down. Couldn't stop thinking about it. Agassi dug deeper inside than most of us ever will have to, to get to core of what made him so powerful as a player and so conflicted as a person. It is all conspicuously real: The small moments, the outlandish triumphs and the friendships that sustained him and/or corrupted him. The gauntlet he had to run through to arrive at the balance and joy he has today. It's transformative.
The headlines about this book have mostly related to Andre's drug use when he was at his lowest. But honestly, although it marked the place from which he recovered and flourished, it's only an incidental part of this story. The story is actually about perseverance, intelligence and raw talent all baked together into a very, very large American life.
If Open doesn't win a Pulitzer Prize, something is terribly wrong. Can I nominate it?
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Mr. Sam: How Sam Walton Built Walmart and Became America's Richest Man Review

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Mr. Sam: How Sam Walton Built Walmart and Became America's Richest Man ReviewThis book was highly enjoyable and informative. After reading many books on Sam Walton as well as his own authobiography, I found this book to be an excellent and honest profile of this highly successful businessman. What we see is an overview of a man who built the largest company in the world through pure hustle, determination, commitment, hard work and focus. In addition to the content, the book also provided some very informative graphs and charts that I thought were very useful.
What I also liked was that the book was very honest in the sense that it also mentioned and discussed some criticisms that Mr. Walton experienced throughout his business career. It gave us an inside look to his philosophies and how he conducted his business. Whether you agree or not with his practices, there is no doubt that this man was one of the greatest and most successful businessman who ever lived. More amazing, he built his chain stores one store at a time while keeping his work ethic and company culture intact. The net value of his family today make them by far the wealthiest family in the world. Him and his company are definitely ones to be repsected and admired.
Although, this book is geared towards students, I highly recommend it to adults and buisnessmen everywhere. It is a very easy and enjoyable read while providing a lot of business advice and insights. Whoever reads this book will not be disappointed.
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Everything Will Be All Right Review

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Everything Will Be All Right ReviewThis is an honest, inspirational story of a man overcoming one of the toughest challenges that modern Americans can face: being born into extreme poverty. Douglas Wallace talks at length about what it was like growing up in what he terms "generational poverty," and how he managed to find his way out through hard work, determination, and, ultimately, faith. It's a story that can put your current problems into perspective, but more than that, it's a testament to the power of character and belief. Like "Slumdog Millionaire," it's an honest, sometimes brutal look at adversity, but its crowning achievement is the message of hope that it offers. I couldn't put it down.Everything Will Be All Right Overview

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History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers Review

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History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers ReviewIntroduction: Allan Duffin weaved a fascinating historical survey with threads cast by women in blue who overcame culturally discriminating obstacles and strengthened the fabric of law enforcement professionals in the United States. History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers captivates readers with over 675 references to situations, events, and results detailing challenges women faced as they became police matrons 19th century and rose to police chiefs in the 20th century. Just changing the name from policeman to police officer seems subtle, but is recognition of the great strides women made while achieving higher positions. The story ranges from the 1840's through Civil War, World Wars I and II, the civil and equal rights movements into our current 21st century debate over the legality of same-sex partnerships.
Content Review: History in Blue... tells real events about actual police women clearing barriers in the male dominated field. It validates the cultural challenges women faced. Spanning the United States, from Hawaii to Maine; Alaska to Florida; north, east, south and west, these women wrote a page turning history. It reads fast like a John Grisholm or Joseph Wambaugh novel.
Early accounts as social enforcers separating overly aggressive young lovers, arresting mashers, spooners, and fox-trot dancers progressed through the long uphill battle of the 1950's-1970's and developed into prostitution stings, infiltrating drug rings, sending untold numbers of unsuspecting criminals behind bars. Civil and equal rights laws forced progress through the 1970's and 1980's putting women and race in a pressure cooker enforcing laws against dismissive and defiant men. Policemen's wives increased the pressure with their concerns over policewomen riding shifts with their husbands. Height and weight entry issues, uniforms, bullet-proof vest, and hand gun size - all of these and more reflect the arduous steady movement from more polite times to the brutally blunt current times in 2009. Allan Duffin energized a passive historical review into a tightly packed survey for general readers to learn more about the challenges and contributions women make to the law enforcement profession.
Page after page recount limited duties and little respect to growing acceptance and earned respect. Allan Duffin crystallizes each woman's challenge and contribution by using their names that breaths life to the events and respect to the woman. Beth Bradbury's account from Idaho recalled the six foot "mark on the door frame...If you were shorter that that, they wouldn't hire you as a police officer." Other departments required higher education requirements yet women received lower pay that led to discrimination cases, awards, and equal pay. Riveting accounts from Indiana's Jill Rice in 1993 during a drug sting from Texas to Indiana capturing drug suppliers, and dealers in a well coordinated bust using local, state, federal and military resources. Julia Grimes from Alaska tells about flying her Cessna 185 to Manakotak after an aircraft crashed into the tundra. From the ground to the skies, women's frontline challenges with success and detailed tragic accounts of women and men who lost their lives in the line of duty. All while policewomen endured ridicule, harassment, and dressed in public restrooms because police forces and leadership did not accept or make room for their growing numbers in the ranks. Pressing political and leadership issues highlighted Ella Bully-Cumming's rise from entry to her appointment as Chief of Police in Detroit by a corrupt newly elected Mayor Kilpatrick. And, Cathy Lanier's surprising selection as Washington D.C.'s first woman police chief. The road is paved although still not yet smooth. The direction is as clear yet as unpredictable as a police officer's daily beat - you just don't know what is going to happen next. This cultural history demonstrates women from all walks of life and all ages have surpassed cultural challenges and are prepared to succeed.
Reviewer's Conclusions: Allan Duffin writes with a vivid, broad lexicon making the history leap from the pages and compelling to read. A History in Blue... is the grit behind glitzy dramas like Law and Order, Saving Grace and The Closer. The book seemingly covers every cultural aspect women faced with emotion and professional restraint and maintains historical relevance. A possible woman authorship shortcoming is overcome with respect to documenting situations, actions, and results in a historical context. A man's authorship adds dimension to the women's history by capturing accounts from interviews and research while realizing the complicit and implicit behavior and implications for both women and men. The subjects and stories are real, yet told with more pitch and range than the monotone on Cops. Women and men readers who lived through many of the periods covered in A History in Blue... will easily identify local and national historical events like the Los Angeles Rodney King riots and 9/11 seeded through the history like landmarks along a journey.
A History in Blue is a fast easy read and as entertaining as it is referent, spotted with humor as well as tragedy. It is a reference for all leadership, management, and social studies, and a reference for all police officers. Allan Duffin succeeded recounting a cultural history women wrote to become law enforcement professionals.
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The Blood of Lambs: A Former Terrorist's Memoir of Death and Redemption Review

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The Blood of Lambs: A Former Terrorist's Memoir of Death and Redemption Review"The Blood of Lambs" is a gut-wrenching autobiography by former terrorist Kamal Saleem (not his real name). With the assistance of Lynn Vincent, the memoir of this former terrorist's road from horrific existence to redemption is graphically laid out for the reader, offering understanding into how a terrorist is manufactured by an aggressive culture. A review on the cover calls this a riveting read, and it certainly is! Saleem recounts his experiences from the tender age of FOUR YEARS OLD that led to his becoming a feared Islamic warrior. Now, his calling is to courageously defend America and awaken the people of the land he loves to awareness of the terrorist threat with which he used to be affiliated. This is an engrossing and shocking read that is bound to change the reader's perspective on our world.
This is an emotional, engrossing and educational read.The Blood of Lambs: A Former Terrorist's Memoir of Death and Redemption Overview

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The Happiest Man in the World: An Account of the Life of Poppa Neutrino Review

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The Happiest Man in the World: An Account of the Life of Poppa Neutrino ReviewAlec Wilkinson has written for _The New Yorker_ for years, and has ideas about who makes a good subject for his prose. "I do not believe that someone is a proper subject, or a laudable figure, only if he has made a lot of money or been a politician, an actor, a freakish public figure, or a criminal," he writes in _The Happiest Man in the World: An Account of the Life of Poppa Neutrino_ (Random House). Indeed, Poppa Neutrino is none of these. He is a rafter, a football strategist, a street musician, and most of all an independent being who in his seventy-odd years has relentlessly done things his own way. This makes him a real hero, but it also makes him a nut; there is no reason the two cannot be conjoined, but his way of living his life is not one readers can expect to be completely comfortable with. "I wouldn't suggest that anyone regard Neutrino as a model," Wilkinson confesses. "It wouldn't be sensible. I don't even myself regard him entirely as one." Model or not, Neutrino is unique, and he is happy, and if you jettison materialistic standards (as Neutrino surely has) he is a success, and Wilkinson's delightful, amused, and affectionate portrait lets us in on the life of an eccentric who is as worth knowing in his way as any tycoon or president.
Neutrino's mother was an incorrigible gambler, and his father was a sailor who wasn't around. He flunked school and was thrown out of the Army because he enlisted at fifteen. He attended seminary and was thrown out, and then headed a group called the Salvation Navy, which traveled on waterways and made money by painting signs. He formed a ragtag musical group and got some money by it, but money wasn't important, just getting by was: "His poverty had exposed him again and again to the harshest torments, and yet he behaved as if no one could be as fortunate as he was to wake up with the whole day long to invent." He invented a football tactic by which a quarterback can send signals to a receiver after a play is underway, and part of the book is devoted to Neutrino's traveling to different schools to interest them in his revolutionary tactic, which seems to work but is just too different for the teams to incorporate (so far). The main arena for his invention, however, is that of rafting. "Neutrino was not the first man to build a raft and sail it across the Atlantic," writes Wilkinson. "He was the first to cross the Atlantic on a raft built from garbage." Neutrino may have spent his life as a drifter, but he did so literally, and made an adventure and an art form of it.
He also made it a spiritual quest. He created the Church of the Seven Levels, which incorporates his metaphysics based on triads. "There's only one thing in my soul," Neutrino says. "It's attack. Whether it's musical, spiritual, emotional, it's a multileveled attack. If you don't attack, you're just receiving all the blows of life." And yet paradoxically, he is on a non-offensive and introspective quest: "I am always asking myself, How can I become more involved, more passionate, and less vulnerable?" If Neutrino had taken his philosophy and energy and expended it in business, he would have been a millionaire many times over, but then he would just be one of millions of millionaires, and he would not have been the fascinating character profiled here. At the end of the book, Neutrino, elderly but hanging on after heart attacks, is still making rafts, perhaps one to go across the Pacific. Few who read this intimate and absorbing book will want to imitate his particular style of life, but there is much to admire about Neutrino's eccentricity. "I'm going out of this life as what I have worked and striven my whole life to be, a free man - free of possessions, free of greed, free of worry and strife. Free of anything superfluous."
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Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story (Music in American Life) Review

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Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story (Music in American Life) ReviewThis is one of the best biographies I have ever read about anyone. This book is very well-written, as it portrays Faron Young as a person first. Many biographies about musical artists talk way too much about the music, and not enough about the person. Faron Young's music speaks for itself. However, no one has ever known that much about his life, other than that he was a colorful character who sang country music, used salty language and drank too much. Diekman paints a much more detail picture of an outwardly simple, yet internally very complex man. As you read this book, you will feel the tremendous highs and lows that Young went through in his happy yet often painful life. You will also feel the alternating sense of fun and nervous tension that friends and family felt around him. Once I started reading this book, I could not stop. And while I like Faron Young music, I am not what one would consider to be a die-hard fan. This book took me back through Young's life, as well as the lives of those around him. It is also sad to see how such a super talent died so sad and bitter. But after reading this terrific book, I understand why he died as he did. I have read thousands of bios on everyone from John Adams to Patsy Cline. This is definitely in the top three. It is simply WONDERFUL................It reads great, and paints such a illustrative picture of a man who, I thought I knew a little about........but after reading this book, I realize how little I really knew! I'm gonna read it again, and then go out and buy some Faron Young music. BRAVO!
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Neal Cassady: The Fast Life of a Beat Hero Review

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Neal Cassady: The Fast Life of a Beat Hero ReviewThis book is for fans of Beat Writers....or those interested in Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters. This is a comprehensive and well researched and written biography on Neal Cassady, a buddy and inspiration to Jack Kerouac. ( Neal was Dean Moriarity in On the Road) as well as the driver on Kesey's bus trip to New York and a key figure in Kesey's Merry Pranksters. The authors' make the point ( which Kerouac also espoused) that Neal's ecstatic and uncensored letter writing style greatly influenced Kerouac's switch to spontaneous writing following his publication of The Town and the City (Kerouac's first Wolfian styled book) and resulted in what eventually became On the Road....with Kerouac's and Cassady's adventures being the central part of the book. Neal, at Jack's urging to be a writer, struggled to be a writer of novels and of consequence...but outside of letters, some quite long, and a book titled the First Third, nothing ever great came from Neal's writing. So he served as an inspiration to Kerouac and those he encountered especially Kesey..Neal's great myth was based on his amazing mind and his physical presence in the world. His was a high energy and at times a tortured life. This book seems like a balanced telling of Neal's life and is consistent with some of the people who I have interviewed who knew Neal...I could question a couple minor points but they really don't belong in this general review nor are critical to the overall thrust of the book....It's amazing this book was completed by two authors, one dying before the book was completed, because the writing style remains consistent through out. If this is a topic area you are interested in, this is a book worth reading...well done.Neal Cassady: The Fast Life of a Beat Hero Overview

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The Bad Always Die Twice Review

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The Bad Always Die Twice ReviewThe Bad Always Die Twice
By Cheryl Crane
Copyright August 2011
Publisher Kensington
For Nikki Harper, realtor to the stars and daughter of 1950s screen goddess Victoria Bordeaux, Hollywood is home. A completely dysfunctional home populated by a cast of crazies, true, but home nonetheless. While Nikki's no stranger to scandal, she's shocked to receive a hysterical phone call from her business partner, Jessica Martin, saying that TV has-been Rex March has been found dead in Jessica's bed.
More shocking than Rex's death is the fact that, as far as anyone knew, Rex was already dead. Six months ago, the star of the seventies sitcom Shipwrecked Vacation was supposedly killed when his plane crashed in the Mojave Desert. Nikki and Jessica recently sold his mansion on behalf of his widow, Edith. It's obvious to Nikki that Jessica is being framed, but by whom? And why? And how on earth can Rex be dead a second time?
In search of answers, Nikki turns to the one person she can always count on. From her pink boudoir in her Beverly Hills mansion, the ever-glamorous Victoria suggests Nikki focus her sleuthing on Rex's not-so-grieving widow. And there's a veritable casting couch full of other candidates, including Edith's boy-toy lover, Rex's scheming lawyer (like there's any other kind), and the diner waitress with whom Rex was having one of his numerous affairs. But with the killer readying for a repeat performance, Nikki will have to act fast--before her own screen fades to black. . .
Nicolette Harper was raised in the middle of the Hollywood hype, her mother a world famous movie star. Now, Nikki Harper, all grown up, and not needing to work for a living, spends her time selling high end homes in the Hollywood and Beverly Hills Real Estate business. She partners with her best friend Jessica Martin and between them they enjoy their work and the people they meet.
Nikki and Jessica are at a party hosted by Edith March, the widow of TV has - been Rex March, whose house they had sold for her. Nikki is not a party person and as soon as she's talked to her hostess, and seen her mother make her famous entrance she's off and heading home to take care of her two dogs. Little knowing that she is going to be drawn into a murder that will dredge up her feelings about her own father's murder years ago and her distrust of the police in finding the killer. The biggest question of course is Rex died in a plane crash, how can his newly dead body turn up on Jessica's bed.
This is the first book in Cheryl Crane's new real estate murder mysteries. I wouldn't quite call them cozies. I would call them well written, reader involved, and a book you won't want to put down till you finish it.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher with their hope that I would read it and write a review.
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The Fatal Gift of Beauty: The Trials of Amanda Knox Review

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The Fatal Gift of Beauty: The Trials of Amanda Knox ReviewI purchased Nina Burleigh's fine book having only limited knowledge of the facts and circumstances surrounding the the tragic, horrific murder of Meredith Kercher, an English exchange student studying in Perugia, Italy, on a prestigious ERASMUS scholarship.
I can tell you unequivocally that I'm glad I bought and read this book. It is an outstanding piece of investigative writing containing a thorough, credible analysis of a most troubling series of events. It is also a damn fine page-turner of a read.
With only limited exposure to media coverage of the murder, ensuing investigation and trials, I was very puzzled and troubled by the case. I wanted to know more about what could possibly have driven two or three persons to commit such an unspeakable act. Was it drugs, sex, ritualistic pagan deeds, or something else? The murder, and ensuing police investigation and trials, were portrayed in a made-for-TV movie I saw recently and which upset me greatly. I was at first very angry about Amanda Knox and her boy friend, especially as they were portrayed in the TV movie. They struck me as trivial, hash-addled bone-heads, possibly murderers to boot. The movie, however, was low-grade in quality and lacking in credible analysis. I could not put my finger on it, but something about the entire case didn't feel "right" to me. Unsatisfied, and in after a restless a night or two following the TV movie on the case, I bought Nina Burleigh's book.
Nina offers a very thorough, well-researched, and provocative analysis of the case and players at all levels: the scene in Perugia, the university town in which the murder occurred; the victim and her flat mates; the three acccused and convicted of the crime; the Italian magistrate responsible for both investigating and trying the case; the police and crime lab personnel; the Italian legal system; the lawyers on all sides; the witnesses; and affected family members.
The book addresses the importance of context in this case. Context is crucial to understanding what happened and the likely reasons why each of the events along the way played out as they did. Absent an understaning of context the events in Perugia are so puzzling as to be beyond comprehension. That is why I slept fitfully after viewing the TV movie. The case made no sense to me.
The author does an outstanding job detailing and dissecting the context of the case. She includes discussion of how Ms. Knox's strange behavior informed the investigation, the motivations driving the prosecutor, the 3 accused of the crime, the media, and other, key players in the saga. The reader is thereby armed with all of the tools necessary to understand what went down the night of the murder of Meredith Kercher.
The author also skillfull reviews and critiques the tangible evidence, explaining in detail the strengths as well as the apparent weaknesses in the prosecution's case.
Reading this book helped me understand what most likely happened when Meredith Kercher was murdered. One is able to more readily comprehend the ensuing investigation and the culminating trials. The author's discussion of related topics central to context, including the still evolving role of women in Italian culture, the impact of religion on the case, and differences between the Italian and American justice systems, provide valuable insights. The author skillfully demonstrates in chapter after chapter her own gravitas as a writer and analyst.
Having practiced law for over 33 years in the United States, I can tell you from experience a case that makes no sense is every lawyer's worst dream. Thanks to Nina for writing a book that illuminates a most vexing case, one that is tragic on many levels.
We can only hope that justice will be done in the still-pending Knox and Sollecito appeals.
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The King of the Sunset Strip: Hangin' With Mickey Cohen And the Hollywood Mob Review

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The King of the Sunset Strip: Hangin' With Mickey Cohen And the Hollywood Mob Review. . . unless you want to lose sleep. Once I started reading, I found I didn't want to put it down until I was done. With all the famous names connected with the story, I felt like I was watching a movie while I read it. A totally different view of Hollywood Glamour meeting Hollywood Mob. Everybody loves a celebrity, and if they can't be one, they want to know one, or know somebody who knows one - and Mickey Cohen was no different. It was easy to see how and why a young man could get seduced by the power surrounding someone like Cohen, and, knowing he was bad, still find it hard to break away. Lucky for Stevens, he lived through it, and was able to tell his story.The King of the Sunset Strip: Hangin' With Mickey Cohen And the Hollywood Mob Overview

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